Robert A. Iger traveled to florida to attend the grand opening in October 2003 of Mission Space, a $100 million ride at Disney World. For more than a day the president and second-in-command of the Walt Disney Co. dutifully spoke to Wall Street analysts, met with employees and even climbed aboard to personally test the ride—a jolting, spinning rocket simulator with dis-orientation and nausea as side effects. But when his boss, Michael Eisner, arrived in town a day later, Iger instantly evaporated. Eisner swept into the theme park with an entourage of employees, as crowds of park visitors parted like the Red Sea. Television crews aimed their cameras and stuck their microphones in Eisner's face while Iger, in customary fashion, retreated to the shadows to observe a true mogul reigning over his magic kingdom. Nearly as famous as Mickey Mouse himself, Eisner was the embodiment of a Disney character—an icon come to life.
展开▼
